Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Jesse Ventura Vs. The TSA and DHS

After a brief media frenzy in November, news reports on the TSA abuse of airline passengers have nearly disappeared. Fortunately, that may be changing thanks to a lawsuit filed by Jesse Ventura. As reported by PrisonPlanet.com:
Former Governor Jesse Ventura has taken steps to sue the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, naming their chiefs John Pistole and ‘Big Sis’ Janet Napolitano in a lawsuit that will take on invasive airport pat-downs. Ventura first told Alex Jones of his intent to sue the TSA privately back in November while traveling for the making of TruTV’s “Conspiracy Theory,” expressing grave concern about what he viewed as his country’s transformation into East Germany...

Ventura filed his lawsuit Monday, January 24, 2011 in Minnesota and news reports have named David Olsen as his lawyer. The former governor has indicated that his suit will include violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 4th Amendment, arguing that he and others with disabilities have been discriminated against and unduly singled out by TSA despite presenting no threat and warranting no reason for lawful search. Further, Ventura has argued that his ability to travel freely has been infringed, hampering his ability to work.

The good news is Ventura has a great chance of winning, in no small part due to the TSA policies being bad for business. As PrisonPlanet.com notes: "Tourism is down by billions of dollars; angry travel and vacation industry representatives tried to get TSA to back down, citing some 41 million potential fliers who ‘avoided’ travel due to anxiety over airport security."